Curtain wall and method of erecting same



May 2, 1967 e. F. EBER CURTAIN WALL AND METHOD OF ERECTING SAME Filed April 17, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 14 M M I IL L -T Q g Q l2 l2 l2 2 a L L 2 l2 -/2 /2 --/2 /2 I2 I2 l f 2 I /I /l /I IO I0 6 6 IO Tr H fif l l2 /2 I2 X L I I 1 A 10 IO I4 IO /N VEN TOR F/ G GEORGE F. EBER BY XM AT IORNEZSU May 2, 1967 G. F. EBER 3,316,681

CURTAIN WALL AND METHOD OF ERECTING SAME Filed April 17, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR I2 GEORGE F. EBER ATTORNEYS G. F. EBER May 2, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 17, 1964 INVENTOR mWs B. F. N 2WD E .0 T G T R O A E G fiW///////////// 9 a 4 8 0 3 4 G 7 3 F 9 3 9 I 2 2 2 O 1 2 I a g 0 2 H 2% f I I, Q

United States Patent Claims This invention relates to curtain walls for previously constructed building frames, and to a method of erecting curtain walls to enclose the sides of such building frames.

During the past fifteen years or so, masonry curtain walls have, to a large extent, been abandoned in favour of metallic curtain walls. The currently most popular curtain wall system for large buildings is the aluminum type of curtain wall made up of extruded and rolled aluminium shapes. While such curtain walls have been a real con tribution to the building art as an efiicient, light-weight, economical means for enclosing building frames with curtain walling, they have been characterized by certain disadvantages both in their erection and in their functioning when erected.

These disadvantages are basically all traceable to the that presently available metal curtain walls employ large number of different components in any given small area of the wall. Thus, for example, in a vertical cross-sectional drawing showing the connection of a single mullion to the sides of two adjacent window units in the recently constructed Place Ville Marie building in Montreal, Canada, some 28 difi'erent components may be counted.

The multiplicity of components in conventional metallic curtain walls leads to high labour and supervision costs in the assembling of such walling, especially in high rise buildings. Furthermore, if the on site assembling is not performed with considerable skill and accuracy, the equality of the walling will suffer, resulting in moisture and air leakages, and glass breakage.

The present invention overcomes the above-described disadvantages by markedly reducing the number of different components required to constitute a metallic curtain wall, and is essentially based on the novel concept of employing in a curtain wall metal window units which are cast as single units capable of having the window glass proper mounted therein prior to raising of the wall, in conjunction with metal spandrel units which are also unitary castings.

The wall of the invention may be defined as a curtain wall for a previously constructed skeletal frame of a building of conventional construction having a plurality of floors, said curtain wall comprising alternate horizontal series of (a) cast rectangular metal window units and (b) cast rectangular metal spandrel units, and weather-proof gasketing between (a) each adjacent horizontal series and (b) each adjacent member of each series.

The invention includes a method for erecting a curtain Wall to enclose the side of a previously constructed skeletal building frame having a plurality of floors, said method comprising attaching a horizontal series of cast rectangular window units to the said floors with one such series extending between each adjacent pair of floors, the said horizontal series being spaced apart from one another, the space between each adjacent horizontal series of window units being filled with a horizontal series of spandrel panels, and inserting, as said series of window units and panels are erected, weather-proof gasketing between (a) the horizontal meeting lines between each series of spandrel panels and the adjacent series of window units, and (b) each adjacent member of each series.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a presently preferred embodiment of the invention:

ISIGURE l is a front elevation of part of a completed wa FIGURE 2 is a perspective view, partly in section, of the wall of FIGURE 1 on an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 3 is detailed section on an enlarged scale taken along the line A-A in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a detailed section on an enlarged scale taken along the line BB in FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a detailed section on an enlarged scale taken along the line C-C in FIGURE 1.

Considering FIGURE 1 first, this preferred embodiment of a wall according to the invention may 'be seen to basically consist of horizontal series of cast rectangular window units each having a rectangular plate of glass 11 mounted therein by means of gasketing 12, and horizontal series of cast rectangular metal spandrel units 13. The series of window units 14 and spandrel units 13 are disposed in alternating fashion and weather-proof elastomeric gasketing generally indicated by reference numeral 14 is disposed between each adjacent horizontal series and each adjacent member of each series.

The structural nature of the illustrated plurality of similar window units Ill may best be seen in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4.

Each window unit It) is cast as a single piece, the casting being rectangular in shape and having a rectangular window opening in it. The internal periphery 15 of the widow unit, constituting the rectangular window opening, is provided with beading 16 which runs along all of its four sides. The external periphery 17 of window unit It) is also provided with beading 18, but this beading 18 only runs along the upper and lower edges of the external periphery of the window, the vertical side edges of the window unit each being provided with a wedgeshaped internally directed flange 39 (best seen in FIG- URE 4), the purpose of which will be described later on in this specification.

The beading 16 on the inner periphery 15 provides a means for anchoring the window frame gasket 12 formed of elastomeric material. The gasketing 12 (see FIG- URES 3 and 4) is provided with a recess 19 in its outer edge for mounting of the gasketing upon the beading 16, and with a recess 20 along its inner side, the recess 20 serving to mount the rectangular sheet of glass 11 within the rectangular window opening. The elastomeric gasket member 12 is preferably of the evacuable type; that is to say, the gasketing is provided with an internal cavity 22 extending around its full length and a valve means (not shown) whereby the hollow cavity may be evacuated, thereby deforming the normal shape of the gasketing to facilitate its mounting between the inner periphery 15 of the window unit and the sheet of glass 11. When the plate of glass 11 has been mounted within the window unit by means of the gasketing 12, the evacuated cavity 22 can be inflated by puncturing the gasketing so that normal atmospheric pressure will be established within the cavity 22, thereby expanding the gasketing so as to firmly grip both the beaded internal periphery 15 of the window unit and the rectangular plate of glass 11. The nature and functioning of evacuable gasketing 12 will not be described in greater detail since such gasketing is known er so. P The mounting of the glass 11 within window unit 10 is preferably accomplished before the window unit is placed in position to form a part of the curtain walling, but this task may also be performed after the window unit has been placed in position.

The top two corners of each window unit 10 are secured to one of the floors of the previously constructed skeletal building frame by means of fastening brackets 23 and bolts 24 and 25 (see FIGURE 3 and the floor marked D). The two bottom corners of each window unit are secured to the next lower floor of the building frame by means of fastening brackets 26 and bolts 27 and 28 (see FIGURE 3 and the floor marked E).

The part of the rectangular window unit intended to lie above the glass 11 is outwardly bowed (as best seen in FIGURES 2 and 3) to form a cavity 30'which can be packed with an insulating material such as polyurethane foam. The presence of this insulating material is indicated at 31 in FIGURE 3. The part of the window unit 10 which is intended to lie below the rectangular window opening is also outwardly bowed, as indicated at 32 in FIGURE 2, to form a larger cavity 33 (see FIGURE 2). Once again an insulating material such as polyurethane foam may be packed in the cavity 33, and some such insulation is indicated by reference numeral 34 in FIG- URE 3. Lining material 35 is provided rearwardly of the insulating material 34 in the cavity 33 and is held in position by its edge 35 which extends into groove 16a (FIGURE 3), and lining material 36 (preferably formed from material of poor heat conductivity) is provided behind the insulating material 32 in cavity 30. The anchoring brackets 23 and 26 may be utilized to secure the lining material 35 and 36 in position and material 35:: having poor heat conductivity may be inserted between the lining 35 and the edges of the lower part of the window unit 10.

The window units 10 in each horizontal series of window units are mounted so that the side edges of each adjacent pair of windows are disposed closely adjacent one another. A vertical strip of weather-proof elastomeric gasketing 37, the preferred shape of which may best be noted in FIGURES 4 and 5, is inserted between the adjacent vertical side edges of each adjacent pair of window units 10.

The strips of gasketing 37 are also preferably of the evacuable type and are each provided with an internal cavity 38 running substantially the full length of the strip, closed ends and a valve (not shown) whereby the cavity 38 may be evacuated. The cavity 38 is of generous proportions so that the gasketing 37 can be substantially narrowed from its normal shape by evacuation prior to insertion between the side edges of two adjacent window units 10. As already noted, the vertical sides of each window unit 10 terminates in an inwardly turned flange 39, as best seen in FIGURE 4, and these flanges 39 are wedge-shaped in cross-section. The flanges 39 cooperate to form a wedging grip upon the gasketing 37 when the evacuated gasketing has been inserted between the adjacent sides of a pair of window units 10 and then punctured so that it will have expanded to its normal preevacuation shape (illustrated in FIGURE 4). While other forms of conventional gasketing material could be used in place of the illustrated gasket 37, the evacuable type of gasket just described is considered to be especially well suited for forming a weather-proof seal between the adjacent vertical sides of each pair of window units 10 in each horizontal series of such units. Material 40 capable of forming a thermal break, i.e. material of poor heat conductivity, is preferably employed to line the inner face of each window unit 10 over the portion of each window unit lying between the outer side of the window supporting gasket 18 and the flange 39. A trim cover may be provided rearwardly of the vertical joint between each pair of window units as indicated at 41 in FIG- URE 4.

As previously mentioned, alternately arranged between each horizontal series of window units 10 there is a horizontal series of cast rectangular metal spandrel units 13. These spandrel units 13 are preferably the width of two window units, and their height is generally similar to the thickness of each floor (D, E, etc.) of the building frame. The spandrel units 13 are not directly secured to the floors of the building frame, but instead are connected to the upper and lower edges of the Window units 10 lying directly thereabove and therebelow. The spandrel units 13 are connected to the upper edges of the window units immediately therebelow by means of a structural gasket 42 which has a recess in its lower face whereby the gasket 42 may be mounted on the heading 18 running along the top edge of the outer periphery of each window unit 10. The lower edge of each rectangular spandrel unit 13 is provided with beading 43 extending along its complete length. This beading 43 is intended to be forced into a recess formed in and extending along the top of the structural gasket 42.

The upper edge of each cast rectangular spandrel unit 13 is also provided with beading, as indicated at 44. This beading 44 extends along the full length of the upper edge of each spandrel unit 13, and a horizontal strip of elastomeric gasketing material 45, having longitudinally extending recesses in its upper and lower surfaces, is mounted by means of these recesses (a) upon the beading 44 of the spandrel unit and (b) upon the beading 18 which extends along the lower edge of the window units 10 immediately above the spandrel unit 13 in question. The gasketing 45 is also preferably of the evacuable type previously described.

As may be seen in FIGURE 5, the vertical edges of the spandrel units 13 terminate in inwardly directed wedgeshaped flanges 46 which act similarly to the flanges 39 of the window units 10 to form a seal in conjunction with a vertical strip of gasketing 47 which is once again of the evacuable type and is of exactly the same cross-section as the gasketing 37 employed to seal the adjacent edges of each pair of window units 10 (as shown in FIG- URE 4). Because of the similarity between the seals of FIGURES 4 and 5, further description of the seal of FIGURE 5 appears to be unnecessary.

The central part of each spandrel unit 13 is outwardly bowed as indicated at 48 in FIGURES 2, 3 and 5, to form a cavity 49 which may be packed with insulating material 50 such as polyurethane foam. A suitable liner 51 is provided reanwardly of the polyurethane, and material capable of forming a thermal break may be placed between the inner face of the periphery of each spandrel unit 13 and the liner 51, as indicated at 52 in FIGURE 3.

While the manner in which a curtain wall of the type described above would be erected is probably already evident from what has been said so far in this specification, nevertheless the manner in which the illustrated curtain wall would be raised will now be briefly described. Only the erection of a single horizontal series of window units 10 and a single horizontal series of spandrel units 13 will be described since the erecting of the entire curtain wall is simply a repetition of the erection of additional horizontal series of window units 10 and spandrel units 13.

A horizontal series of window units It! is installed between the floors D and E shown in FIGURE 3 by anchoring the top corner of each window unit 10 to the floor D by means of two anchoring brackets 23 and bolts 24 and 25. The lower corners of each window unit are secured to the next lower-most floor E by means of a pair of anchoring brackets 26 and bolts 27 and 28. Between the sides of each pair of window units 10 constituting the said horizontal series of window units a weather-proof seal is provided by inserting the previously described gasketing 37 in the collapsed form, and then permitting it to expand. The glass 11, according to my presently preferred practice, would already be installed in each window unit 10 by means of the gasket 12 before the window unit in question is mounted to form a part of the curtain wall.

The horizontal series of cast rectangular metal spandrel units 13 which is associated with floor E is then mounted between the lower edges of the series of window units 10 just described, and the upper edges of the previously erected series of window units 10 which extends between the floor E and the next lowermost floor. The mounting of this series of spandrel units 13 is, of course, accomplished by means of the structural gasket 42 and the evacuable type gasket 45 described above. It is then only necessary to complete the weatherproofing by inserting the vertical gasket strips 47 between the adjacent edges of each pair of spandrel units 13 of the said horizontal series. The erection steps just described are simply repeated floor-hy-floor until the top of the building has been reached and the side of the building has thereby been fully enclosed by a curtain made up of alternating horizontal rows of window units 10' and spandrel units 13.

It Would be appreciated that the cast window units 10 and cast spandrel units 13 need not be cast in the illustrated bowed configuration and that instead of the beading 16, 18, 43 and 44 some other conventional means could be used for ensuring the firm securement of the gaskets 12, 42 and 45 to the various window and spandrel units.

The expenses of cleaning the aluminium portions of curtain walls (which is normally quite expensive since the normal extruded metal curtain wall must be cleaned at regular intervals to avoid dullness and poor appearance) can be avoided in the case of a curtain wall made in accordance with this invention since the cast window units and panels can, in the casting process whereby they are formed, be given a textured external finish which could simply be left to age by weathering during the life of the building.

It is believed that it will be appreciated from what has been said above that the curtain wall system of the invention can be erected with a minimum of on-site labour and at a speed which compares very favourably indeed With the speed of erection of conventional metal curtain walling. Should a portion of the curtain walling become substantially damaged during the life of the building, a replacement part, or as many replacement parts required, can quickly be substituted for the damaged units.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a curtain wall for buildings having window and spandrel units, a curtain wall Window unit, comprising:

(a) a substantially rectangular metal panel which extends between two adjacent floors of a building;

(b) a bracket member connecting the top of said panel to the upper of said adjacent floors, and the bottom of said panel to the lower of said adjacent floors of the building;

() said panel being a unitary metal piece which constitutes the exterior facing of the building when the panel is in position;

((1) said panel having a window opening therein bounded by a peripheral beaded flange extending towards said window opening;

(e) an elastomeric structural gasket having a plurality of linearly extending recesses on each side thereof which has one of its exterior recesses fitted on said beaded flange;

(f) a glass window within said window opening which has its peripheral edge extending into one of the interior facing recesses on the structural gasket;

(g) said structural gasket having a sealed continuous internal cavity connected at one point to a valve, whereby said structural gasket can be evacuated prior to installation to reduce its size and to thereby assist in its installation on the panel;

(h) said structural gasket when in position having said internal cavity vented to atmosphere to expand said structural gasket to its normal size to thereby seal and tightly engage both the beaded flange and the glass window;

(i) the portions of said metal panel adjacent the window opening being outwardly bowed to form a hollow cavity;

(j) insulation material the panel;

(k) an insulation retaining plate behind the bowed packed within said cavity of portion of said metal panel below the window opening holding said insulation in position; and

(1) said insulation retaining plate having a peripheral edge thereof disposed in a recess of said structural gasket to hold it in position.

2. A curtain Wall window unit construction for a building, as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

(a) said metal panel has an upwardly extending beaded flange along the top and the bottom thereof whereby a gasket having recesses can be mounted thereon.

3. A curtain wall window unit for a building as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

(a) the sides of said metal panels have an inwardly turned flange which forms with the adjacent inwardly turned flange of an adjacent panel, a Wedge-shaped opening to receive a sealing gasket.

4. A curtain wall window unit for a building as set forth in claim 1, comprising:

(a) the entire periphery of said metal panel having flange means for engaging a structural sealing gasket.

5. A curtain wall for a building as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

(a) spandrel units the height of the thickness of the floors are disposed immediately above and below said metal panel; and

(b) said spandrel units are held in position by evacuable structural gaskets mounted on said metal panel.

6. A method of installing a curtain wall element which is made of metal, spans the distance between adjacent floors of the building and has window openings therein, comprising the steps of:

(1) mounting a structural gasket having a continuous evacuable cavity and a plurality of recesses on the inner and outer sides thereof on a beaded flange which forms the periphery of a window opening in said metal panel;

(2) evacuating said cavity to reduce the cross sectional size of said structural gasket;

(3) installing a glass window within the opening defined by said gasket With its periphery being inserted within one of said inner recesses of said evacuable gasket;

(4) filling outwardly bowed hollow cavities in said panel with insulation material;

(5) placing a retaining insulation plate on the back of said insulation material with a portion of the periphery thereof engaged in one of the outer recesses of said structural gasket; and

(6) venting said cavity of said gasket to atmosphere to expand said structural gasket so that it holds the glass window and the insulation retaining plate rigidly in position; and

(7) raising said panel to a position adjacent the upper and lower floors, and fastening the top and the bottom of said metal panel to said floors.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,825,941 3/1958 Lux et al. 52403 X 2,835,360 5/1958 Bernardoni et al. 52-403 2,933,779 4/1960 Delaroche 52403 X 3,001,245 9/1961 Gillett et al. 52476 X 3,071,215 1/1963 Gall 52475 X 3,084,483 4/1963 Cipriani et al. 52-403 X 3,093,217 6/1963 Doede 52403 X 3,110,131 11/1963 Jelfress 52-235 X 3,138,229 6/1964 Hubbard 52475 X 3,232,017 2/1966 Prusinski et al. 52309 FOREIGN PATENTS 696,514 10/1964 Canada.

REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner. HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Examiner. P. C. KANNAN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A CURTAIN WALL FOR BUILDINGS HAVING WINDOW AND SPANDREL UNITS, A CURTAIN WALL WINDOW UNIT, COMPRISING: (A) A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR METAL PANEL WHICH EXTENDS BETWEEN TWO ADJACENT FLOORS OF A BUILDING; (B) A BRACKET MEMBER CONNECTING THE TOP OF SAID PANEL TO THE UPPER OF SAID ADJACENT FLOORS, AND THE BOTTOM OF SAID PANEL TO THE LOWER OF SAID ADJACENT FLOORS OF THE BUILDING; (C) SAID PANEL BEING A UNITARY METAL PIECE WHICH CONSTITUTES THE EXTERIOR FACING OF THE BUILDING WHEN THE PANEL IS IN POSITION; (D) SAID PANEL HAVING A WINDOW OPENING THEREIN BOUNDED BY A PERIPHERAL BEADED FLANGE EXTENDING TOWARDS SAID WINDOW OPENING; (E) AN ELASTOMERIC STRUCTURAL GASKET HAVING A PLURALITY OF LINEARLY EXTENDING RECESSES ON EACH SIDE THEREOF WHICH HAS ONE OF ITS EXTERIOR RECESSES FITTED ON SAID BEADED FLANGE; (F) A GLASS WINDOW WITHIN SAID WINDOW OPENING WHICH HAS ITS PERIPHERAL EDGE EXTENDING INTO ONE OF THE INTERIOR FACING RECESSES ON THE STRUCTURAL GASKET; (G) SAID STRUCTURAL GASKET HAVING A SEALED CONTINUOUS INTERNAL CAVITY CONNECTED AT ONE POINT TO A VALVE, WHEREBY SAID STRUCTURAL GASKET CAN BE EVACUATED PRIOR TO INSTALLATION TO REDUCE ITS SIZE AND TO THEREBY ASSIST IN ITS INSTALLATION ON THE PANEL; (H) SAID STRUCTURAL GASKET WHEN IN POSITION HAVING SAID INTERNAL CAVITY VENTED TO ATMOSPHERE TO EXPAND SAID STRUCTURAL GASKET TO ITS NORMAL SIZE TO THEREBY SEAL AND TIGHTLY ENGAGE BOTH THE BEADED FLANGE AND THE GLASS WINDOW; (I) THE PORTIONS OF SAID METAL PANEL ADJACENT THE WINDOW OPENING BEING OUTWARDLY BOWED TO FORM A HOLLOW CAVITY; (J) INSULATION RETAINING PLATE BEHIND THE BOWED THE PANEL; (K) AN INSULATION RETAINING PLATE BEHIND THE BOWED PORTION OF SAID METAL PANEL BELOW THE WINDOW OPENING HOLDING SAID INSULATION IN POSITION; AND (L) SAID INSULATION RETAINING PLATE HAVING A PERIPHERAL EDGE THEREOF DISPOSED IN A RECESS OF SAID STRUCTURAL GASKET TO HOLD IT IN POSITION. 